Monday, November 24, 2008

The Mission Gathering Church in San Diego has paid for a billboard in San Diego apologizing for people who supported proposition 8 in the name of God.

The sign says: "Mission gathering church is sorry for the narrow-minded, judgmental, deceptive, manipulative actions of those who took away the rights and equality of so many in the name of God. Our hearts are with you, Christianity for all"

Not every Christian is opposed to equal rights for the LGBT community (in the same way that not every gay man or lesbian is opposed to Christianity). In fact, there are a large number of Christians who are very embarassed by the actions of their bigoted neighbors--as evidenced by this billboard.

This would have been the most perfect sentiment for all of us who are persecuted by the pious... right up until the part about "Christianity for all." Hate to be picky in the face of such graciousness, but that certainly excluded me from their warm generous thoughts.

QU, thank you for translating that for me. If that was their intent, then they could not have pick worse wording. "Christianity for all" is a very blunt, all-inclusive statement that frankly carries little ambiguity. VERY different from "all are welcome in our house" or some such similar blather.

First, how do you know they didn't do any campaigning or talking about No on 8 prior to the election? Second, whats up with the intolerant queers? Have we learned nothing from this? We need to build some bridges. We need to accept some differences in our allies. If we say "you can be our allies but only if you say it just right or are not too Christian or are not too this or that" we lose....Oh, right, we did lose. Let's accept the support and be a little culturally diverse in our building of alliances.

Awesome, thank you for posting! I know a lot of Catholics who are pro gay marriage. They just say, "Its about love and thats that." There are cool Christians, Catholics, Lutherans and who ever else out there. Just gotta have an open mind. Not everyone subscribes to every single thing that the church does.

To DavidSFS: I'm not a religious man but I think the phrase, "Christianity for all", truly is this particular church's intention to demonstrate the conviction of their belief that EVERYONE is included in the love that was taught by Jesus.I do, however, understand your uneasiness about the wording. I choose to believe that it was a sincere "reaching out" to their brothers and sisters.Take loving care, all.Patrick

Patrick, I don't doubt for a second that their motives were pure and generous. After reading some of these comments, I realize how I misunderstood. But let's face it, they come from a heritage of 1,000+ years of Christian arrogance. At the time of year when I will be assaulted daily for a month with "Merry Christmas," I think it's unfortunate that it occurred to no one at that church that the slogan they chose also carried the exact opposite meaning they intended. That a tiny change like "Christianity Welcomes All" would not hit some people like a punch in the face upon first reading. Much like the PR person from Cinemark theaters, in defending their fair hiring practices, used the phrase "sexual preference" to demonstrate their open mindedness. Ignorance is not evil, but words are power. Our community has been misunderstood for so long, I needed them to know that a tiny error in judgment carried a big impact for some.

“Christianity for ALL” is not a battle cry for a crusade, but it is a set of words around which a movement can rally to let ALL people everywhere know that God loves, cares, and accepts them just as they are."

To DavidFSF: Though I cannot be a qualified speaker on behalf of the MG church (I have attended only three meetings so far - I'm new), I think it is meant to mean all are welcomed at MG. And as a Christian, I feel it is sinful to condemn anyone - Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, atheist, etc. Anyone who lives a good life is worthy of praise. Christianity is a path I have chosen to help achieve my goal. But any path that leads to love is a good choice.